Recent new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus could represent a worrying development, with fears of a higher fatality rate and questions about the spread of infection. 

Iran has confirmed 18 cases of COVID-19 in the last few days, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A fatality rate of eight people among those infected has raised the alarm within the UN's global health body as it warns that the window to avoid a global pandemic is closing.

"The cases we see in the rest of the world, although only small, but not linked to China? That's very worrisome," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebriyesus told a press briefing in Geneva on Friday. Health officials see the Iranian case as of particular concern, and say they are now looking at a possible link between Iran and another confirmed case of the virus in Lebanon.

Their priority is to establish whether these so-called 'dots' can be traced back to China. If not, that could represent a worrying new phase in the spread of COVID-19 beyond China's borders.

In general, those other countries with confirmed infections are asking "Is this a low-level community transmission that was undetected?" said Sylvie Briande, the WHO's Director of Global Infection Hazard Preparedness. "Or do we face a 'super-spreading event' where we see more cases than we see usually from just person-to-person transmission?"

Elsewhere, South Korea confirmed more than 100 new cases on Friday. Overall, the global scale of the outbreak remains limited, with China still accounting for the vast majority of the total. Beijing reported a surge in new cases on Friday, although in Wuhan province, the epicenter, officials reported a lower rate of increase than on previous days.

A joint WHO/Chinese expert team is due to visit the outbreak's epicenter on Saturday, the WHO confirmed. "The window is still open" to prevent a global pandemic, Ghebriyesus said. "But it is narrowing."

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